All men should get their skin out of them for the women they love, don't they? As a form of supreme sacrifice or the proof of supreme love, or both, however, they, the women, kill us slowly, through everything they do, right after the honeymoon ends... The film lacks what it should happened after the last scene: will she remove her skin for him too? I doubt that, I think she will prefer the divorce, in case they were married... Joke or no joke, reading the opinions of everyone on You-tube and IMDb, 99% did not understood anything. And somehow, rightly, because at least one aspect does not come out clearly from the film: the motivation for which him removes the skin. I'll try again to give an explanation. The reason is simple, those men who have not experienced True Total Love for a woman, have no way to know. The answer is that Love causes you to do such stupid things, such as even getting your skin out of you. I have to add that the movie has a very attractive and commercial title, which makes many to watch it. Last but not least, I can tell you that I've done something worse than taking my skin off for a woman, I married the woman, and not only one woman but two women...

The poster grabs you and so does the blurb on a story about man without his skin and you decide you like to see this but then its all downhill thereafter. Ben Aston's short film lacks story, style and good acting. Playing more like a metaphor on a couple's life initially, it becomes all about the 'cool' effect of seeing a man in a muscle suit leaving blood marks everywhere and the wife having to always clean up after him. Seriously, where is the story? Even films made breaking conventional story telling rules have a strong story. This short doesn't do story. The blood stained muscle suit and props connect the dots without allowing us to invest in anything of the characters. The excessive use of voice-over like the blood marks turns what could have been a potentially good short into a silly and boring one.

This is a short about exactly what the title says; a man that takes his skin off for his girlfriend. The reason is stupid. He does it just because she asks him to. He soon regrets the life that he lives and realizes the importance of what he has just lost. The effects in the film are quite good. The makeup on the body of the man showing his muscles without their epidermal layers is quite remarkable and realistic. Everything was subtle in its presentation, the smears left behind from even the lightest touch and the slight mood changes of the man as the dark reality slowly descends upon him. Eventually he resents her for the decision and it ends with the two becoming the same.

Ben Aston's He Took His Skin Off for Me is one of the most literal short films I have yet to see, as it concerns the relationship between two people, where, the male (Sebastian Armesto) loved his partner (Anna Maguire) so much he decided to take every part of his skin completely off his body, leaving him nothing but a bright red display of muscles and ventricles. The eleven-minute short film chronicles the relationship these two have created with one another, with the female of the relationship talking about the struggles that have come about with her lover carrying out such a drastic act. While love-making and intimacy hasn't suffered, cleaning the house has become more of a common practice, as her partner leaves bloodstains all over the floors, carpets, sheets, and clothes, and his job has suffered a sharp decline due to his inability to close deals because of the distraction of his physical appearance. Nonetheless, the two share a strong bond and are largely unfazed by the opinions and glares of outsiders.Before anything else is said, special effects artists Colin Arthur and Jen Cardno must be commended for their unfathomable anatomical makeup, perfected and executed using no computer animation and all practical effects. Aston states Armesto sometimes spent up to eight hours in a makeup chair, but for good reason, as he is so breathtakingly realistic and impeccably perfected that one almost wonders what the special effects crew did with his skin. With that, the film conducts itself in a very straight-forward, minimalist manner, which could be the most disappointing element of all because the film walks with its concept rather than letting it run on its own. We watch things that play out to what we expect and nothing really more.That isn't necessarily such a hefty criticism, however, seeing as the entire cast is, for one, thoroughly capable at acting in a low-key fashion, and secondly, the makeup and special effects work is so fascinating to view. Aston's methodical storytelling, reliant predominately on dreamlike pacing and narration, makes for a strangely calming, almost reassuring aesthetic to an already deranged piece of work that is effectively defies categorization in every regard. He Took His Skin Off for Me shows just how far someone in a relationship will go to express their feelings and affection to the one they love, even if the action doesn't make much sense or liable to be met with perplexing stares and such from others.Starring: Sebastian Armesto and Anna Maguire. Directed by: Ben Aston.